Jethro's 1964 I1000

[Jethro]

It's kinda strange how this truck story began. It all started because I got the idea that I wanted to get a different vehicle. Thought maybe a V6 car. Save some gas. A Mustang would be cool.

Checked all the local classifieds. Nothing interesting. Facebook marketplace seems to be where everything is nowadays. I'm on there every day for a couple weeks searching 94-04 Mustangs. Not finding the right one but this ad for a 64 GMC keeps popping up.

The first time I just skimmed past it. Cool truck. I've owned a couple Chevys that style. Looking for a Mustang.

The ad keeps showing up. After a few times I had to click on it and look at the pics. A couple more and I read the description. A couple more and I had to drive 300 miles to go buy it...

Drove the truck home. No dash lights. Burning a quart of oil every 30 miles. Leaking fuel pump. Mostly interstate. At night. "They might be right. I may be crazy."
Got her home in the wee hours May 1st.



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[Jethro]

Now that I had the truck home I got to checking stuff out better. The fuel pump, which had a little drip when I bought the truck, was now leaking real bad. Ordered one from Rock Auto. Gotta get that fixed before I can really get to tinkering on the engine.

While I was waiting for the part I did a little cleanup and got rid of a few extra wires under the hood that had been added for unknown reasons by p-o's.

Everything was pretty crusty under the hood.



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[Jethro]

My experience with inline 6 cylinders has been pretty limited. Back in the day, everybody I knew yanked em out and dropped in a small block. But I want to keep this one.

According to the VIN my truck came with the 230 cid. The guy I bought it from told me it was the original engine so the fuel pump I ordered was for the 230. When my new pump arrived it was completely different than what was on there. The guy was wrong.
Did some scraping and researching and found out I had a 250 out of a 67-70. Ordered a pump for that even tho I was kinda bummed that it wasn't the 230 that was supposed to be in there.

Once I had a fuel pump that fit and got it bolted on I fired her up and the carb immediately started spewing fuel. Ordered a rebuild kit.
In the meantime I messed around and found out the number 6 cylinder had really low compression. Found another engine, a 66 230 out of a Malibu and bought it. Figgered I had to pull the engine anyway cause the throw out bearing was growling pretty bad. Why fix an engine I didn't really want?

Got a new clutch kit and flywheel from Summit.



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And dropped in the 230.



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[Jethro]

Boy, that sure sounded easy!
Well, it wasn't. I ran into one thing after another but got er done.

For one thing, the carb linkage was all different on the 230 and that carb wasn't in great shape either. I had already ordered a rebuild kit for the first carb so went with that.
The only problem is I'm not a great carb guy by any means. It still leaked after I rebuilt it. So I ordered a rebuilt one.

When I went to swap the alternator in I found the front bracket was bent in and the alternator housing had a bunch ground off where the pivot bolt goes. There was no adjustment.
Lucky for me I have extra parts. I swapped in an internal regulator style and rewired accordingly. Addressed a couple other wiring issues while I was in there.

Got the engine compartment cleaned up quite a bit too.

The rebuilt carb I ordered arrived and I was less than elated. One of the top screws wasn't even tightened to touching. When I installed it fuel leaked at the inlet fitting. I had to use my old fitting to fix it. Other than that the carb works good now.

I like the way the internal regulator cleaned up the wiring. Should I have fuses in those hot wires tho? I'm thinking I should do that.



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[Jethro]

I had some Amazon gift cards and decided to spend em on a HEI distributor. Got it installed and the fuel pump started to leak. Had to change that out before I could even get it started to set the timing.
Remember, the one I already changed was on the 250. Lucky I had the first one I ordered for a 230.

Had a heck of a time even getting her started at all. The only way it would run was at 18 degrees advanced initial and not good then. I accidentally discovered that if I pushed the distributor toward the front of the truck the idle would speed up and she'd smooth out. Still couldn't get the timing right.
Thought maybe poor grounds?

So I grounded the frame, engine and cab real good. Didn't help the HEI. Put the old points distributor back in and got er running great.

[Jethro]

Since the engine runs good now I started working on the electrical issues. Starting with the lack of instrument lighting. The printed circuit was partially fried.

I got a spare cluster with the truck. Between the two I think I have a good one now. Still need to add fuel and see if the gas gage works. Not 100 percent sure of the temp gage either. A p-o had it wired to the coil.

Today I got the tail and park lamps working.

[Jethro]

Well, this is a shocking development. The Mrs. and I were out walking the dog and all of a sudden the one good brain cell I have orbiting around inside my skull happened to pass right in front. I remembered there was a whole set of NOS Monroe Gas Magnum shocks out in my pile o' truck parts.

Got to rooting around and sure nuff.

D6F864CF9D1593

They sure do look better and I bet it makes a world of difference driving.



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Noticed the brake hoses are mighty crispy under there. Dual pot conversion coming soon.

[Jethro]

Got one more small task done that is a big improvement. Installed a new lock cylinder in the driver's door. There was no key for the old one.

I didn't take any pics.

The cylinder came from LMC and was a pretty straight forward job to replace. There were only a couple issues. The forward door handle screw was rusted in real tight. I had to clean up the hole where the button goes with a needle file so it would slide smooth. And, this was the tricky one, the new snap ring that came with the lock didn't allow the lock to function.

The original lock had a simple wire snap ring. The replacement was a flat ring with holes for snap ring pliers. It all went together easy enough but wouldn't lock. I finally figgered out that the new flat snap ring was holding the retainer down just a wee bit farther than it should. Popped it out and put the original snap ring in and, voila, I can lock my truck.

Now I can put a radio in without worrying about it getting stolen.

[FetchMeAPepsi]

subscribed for the ride

[Jethro]

I hope it's a good ride Fetch. Can't wait to actually be driving this truck.
So far I'm up to like page 28 on your build journal. It's been a fun and interesting read. Your avatar cracks me up!